TONY DODERO -- Editor’s Notebook

Maybe they were spurred on by Pilot columnist Peter Buffa’s quip, “I’m

sure it will take them a couple years to fix it,” or just the sheer

embarrassment of it all.

Whatever the reason, I’m happy to report that Caltrans officials have

done a remarkable thing for an agency that has quite a reputation for

boondoggles and red tape. In just more than one month’s time, they’ve

managed to restore the good name of the Costa Mesa Freeway.

Readers may remember last month we reported that by using the directional

signs on the northbound San Diego Freeway, Caltrans had without fanfare,

without official notice, without so much as a phone call to the mayor,

changed the name of the Costa Mesa Freeway to the Newport Freeway.

At the time we brought it to their attention, Caltrans officials seemed

nonplused over the blunder.

“Our guys in traffic are checking to see if anything happened to change

the name back. It could take awhile,” Caltrans spokeswoman Gail Smith

said at the time.

As far as we -- and anyone else around here -- knew, that freeway always

bore the name of Costa Mesa. And unless someone had managed to slip one

by us, and you know how hard that is, we were sure Caltrans was wrong.

After all, these are the same people who managed to shut down the San

Diego Freeway on a Saturday a few months back, clogging up traffic all

the way to San Clemente.

To boot, the irony of the name change was that Newport Beach residents

had never wanted anything to do with the Costa Mesa Freeway in the first

place, thus the reason it only stretches as far south as Triangle Square

and not all the way to West Coast Highway.

So it was good this week to see the new signs, with bright white paint,

bearing the Costa Mesa name once again.

But we do have to point out one small error. It appears one sign maker

forgot the space in one of the signs, which now says:

CostaMesa Freeway.

But, heck, I guess we really shouldn’t complain.

*

Not much news out of the Newport Beach Public Library these days and I’m

sure that’s just fine with the trustees and the foundation members, who

were having a heck of a row.

Instead, we’re glad to report some good news. The library has recently

been designated as a regional site for the Center for the Book.

What’s that, you ask?

It’s a division of the Library of Congress dedicated to piquing public

interests in books, promoting literacy and the study of print and

electronic culture.

The center’s California base is at UCLA, and Newport Beach site is one of

four other center satellites that include Fresno County Library, Los

Angeles Public Library, San Francisco Public Library and the Santa Monica

Public Library.

Congratulations to library officials, patrons and of course, supporters,

on the news.

* TONY DODERO is the editor of the Daily Pilot. He can be reached at

949-574-4258 or via e-mail at tony.dodero@latimes.com.